Pure
by TheWaterFox
Summary: What would the Cat do if he lost the Rat? What would the Rat do if he lost the Cat? Yuki wasn't sure... but he knew he didn't want to find out. They say, after all, that hatred is the purest form of love... [Y/K, Rat/Cat, post-anime, ongoing story.]
1. Prelude

**AN:** Nope, I have no idea what I'm doing. I am taking some liberties with the anime, though, but it's toward the end, so nothing major will change concerning that bit. This fic is plotless at the moment, but the prologue/beginning won't get out of my mind. I had to get it out before it distracted me from school. Bear with me, I'll think of things to put into this. Enjoy what you can, and be brutal, should you decide to review! -WF

* * *

**Pure - Prelude**

* * *

****Children grow up believing in the phrase "The more you fight, the more you care." It's used as a teasing device in order to stop siblings from fighting, so appalled that they could possibly "care" for the other one, that it does exactly what it was meant to do. This is applied to many other relationships as well.

And of course the meaning of the phrase is forgotten as people grow older, and discover it's the exact opposite.

...or is it?

There's a shred of truth to the phrase "The more you fight, the more you care." They say that hatred is the purest form of love... and what better example is there of the Cat, and the Rat? The age old rivalry between feline and rodent, with the rodent some how always coming out on top. If cats are supposed to be such smart creatures, then why do they always lose?

It's simply because they care. Probably far too much.

Obviously it's shown in the well-known Cat and Mouse pair of Tom and Jerry. Tom never catches Jerry, and when he does, some sort of guilt comes out, and Jerry is allowed to go free. The entertainment is always there, but so is the pure friendship that is only expressed in the rivalry bred into their blood. Even if they are a cartoon, they exemplify "The more you fight, the more you care."

What would you do, without that rival of yours? What would the Cat do, if he finally defeated his nemesis, the Rat? The Mouse?

Simple. He would lose the very reason he has to live.

* * *

_Why do we always run?_

Such odd tangenting thoughts to be thinking, as amethyst eyes watched the shaking bushes. The hulking figure of the True Cat zipped through that pathway, the rain drowning out the scent, the stench that the form gave off. How long had Yuki stood there in the rain, without the umbrella over him? The umbrella Tohru had dropped, in her haste to chase after the fleeing Kyo, calling for him until her voice grew hoarse. She shouldn't go alone, it was dangerous for her... in a skirt and a short sleeved shirt... her shoes wouldn't be made for running, she'd be snagged in the mud. She'd never catch him.

Not alone.

Yet the Rat was rooted to his spot. _Normally the rodent runs from the feline_. But one look at Tohru, one look at Yuki, and the screeching, ragged cry of "DON'T LOOK AT ME" before running off, that was all he was left with, beyond the rain, and the issue that he should really get out of it. His asthma could work up in this cold, humid air. It could... it could...

He was aware of someone pulling at his sleeve. Kagura? It sounded like her, looked like her, felt like her. Why wasn't she chasing after Kyo? She claimed to love him so much... it didn't click. Was she scared? Yuki found himself gazing at her with empty eyes, moving from her grip. A disjointed voice broke from cold lips, as he automatically told her to go inside instead.

And then her figure was gone, and Yuki's slim legs were carrying him into the forest. After Tohru who was probably lost and stumbling in the dark now. After Kyo, who was horrified that anyone had seen him in such a state.

What would the Rat do, if he lost the Cat? If he no longer had anyone to keep him on his toes, and went about life as a lazy slacker?

...Yuki wasn't sure, really. But he knew he didn't want to find out.

_I'm tired of running away._

Tables had turned. Instead of the Cat chasing the Rat, it was now the Rat chasing the Cat.


	2. Mvt One, Scn 1, 2, 3

**AN:** This is the point in which the anime has ended, and the story really begins. And always, I'm taking my liberties, but implementing what little animal knowledge I know. Also, the chapters start to get longer. Yay. More information about "Pure" and its progress, as well as other fics I'm planning out, can be found on my profile. Enjoy, and if you review, be brutal! -WF

* * *

_**Pure - Movement One: "Knowledge Against Instinct"  
Scenes One, Two and Three  
**_

* * *

He landed a blow.

And it _hurt_.

For the first stunning moment in life since knowing Kyo, Yuki actually felt pain, and saw blood. Those clawed hands, having launched at him... beyond his ability to see, or predict, until their act was done. His shirt-sleeve was torn, and stained, and that left arm grew numb. For a startled moment, in the wake of the white-hot flash that blinded Yuki, he didn't know what to do. Blankly staring at the True-Cat with its bloodied claws, and watching Tohru arrive, trying to work out what was going on. Getting over the fear Yuki only just felt.

Not that Yuki was afraid of _Kyo_ or the _True__-Cat _or anything. Moreso, afraid of the red, red blood sliding down his pale skin to the dirt below.

Yuki wasn't the only one holding back when fighting with Kyo.

He shook himself of the shock and fear of the red, and reentered the struggle for Kyo. To return him to his senses. Yuki had to let go, restrain the flailing cat before he hurt their precious friend. Struggling for words, Tohru also clung to Kyo. Both of them ignored the smell, ignored the smooth and tanned-hide skin, and definitely ignored Kyo's voice shrieking in its warped way for them to let go, and get away... to not look at him. The span of time disappeared for them, all that Yuki knew in the haze of the pain and slight lightheadedness from his continual loss of blood... was that when Kyo was finally tired and a small orange kitty on Tohru's muddied and bruised knee, the sun was shining.

Everything was okay.

* * *

_Days Later_...

"Does it still hurt?" Meekly every day, Tohru would ask this of Yuki, meaning his arm. She never asked when around Kyo, not wanting to remind the cat of what had happened. Kyo wasn't himself yet lately, mellowed out a bit, and spending more time on the roof than anywhere else when out of school. Tohru made he daily trips up to see him, make sure he was eating, and still taking care of him.

Taking care of them all.

"Just a little bit, Miss Honda, I'll heal." Smile smile smile. It was Yuki's standby answer, every day, every time. It was enough for the petite girl, who would smile and accept it, and trot off to start the day. Once out of sight, the smile would vanish, and Yuki would head off alone somewhere... usually into the bathroom, were they at home. Unwrapping the bandages, to take a look and see how the lacerations were healing. Only a few days had passed. Hatori had done his best, before taking Tohru to the main house and after returning her, to numb Yuki's arm, and stitch it together, pulling off excess dead skin. They looked okay closed up like this. Yuki never looked to be in pain, either.

Though that was because he had a low tolerance of pain in this case. Shigure really should stop parading around asking about the lack of aspirin in the house. It was as if he knew - he probably did - and wanted to let everyone else know.

A light violet eyebrow twitched as Yuki shook the dumb dog from his mind's eye, and found the low-supply of aspirin there in the small medicine cabinet. He took two every few hours. Overkill? Perhaps. But Yuki really didn't want to feel even the slightest twinge of pain, for any given moment. A reminder... _The Cat got the Rat. Both have been holding back._

Yuki blinked after he'd shaken two small white tablets out of the container, and sighed. No cups left on the small sink for him to fill with water and take that way. Aspirin was highly toxic to rodents if taken dry... well, the animals, anyway. Yuki had never tried to dry-swallow aspirin after reading a snippet of that one book, _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_ where the said mouse held aspirin in his cheek and almost died from it. Even know, the thought made him shudder. He shook his head to recollect himself, and capped the nearly-empty bottle again. The house was silent right now, or at least this side. He knew Tohru was preparing their lunch, and Kyo was back onto the roof, and Shigure must have been in his office at that moment. It would be okay to leave the pills unguarded for a little while, right?

Stepping out of the bathroom and flicking off the light with an absent movement, Yuki headed for the stairs, pausing briefly to roll his sleeve down over his arm. After he'd taken the aspirin with water, he'd work at rebandaging it. Even if Hatori said to let it get a bit of air, Yuki oddly didn't want to show the world his soon-to-be battle scars.

Softly pardoning himself to Tohru, and letting the girl know he was there - ignoring her stuttering outburst of apologies for being in the way when he made it apparent he wanted water - Yuki was soon lithely sliding out of the kitchen and back to the stairs with the class of water. He stopped at the top of the stairs however, when he noticed a change in the direction he was heading. The door was still open, but the light was now on again. Amethyst eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the orange haired cousin of his.

Yet there was no flash of the usual dislike. Instead what shot through Yuki's body was a bit of panic. Yuki hadn't exactly tidied up in there, he only planned to be gone mere moments. The bandages were still unwound, the aspirin still on the counter. And from this vantage point, he saw Kyo staring intently, yet blankly at the items in the bathroom, initial reasons for bathroom usage out of his head.

Then the Cat's sixth sense kicked in, as if knowing he was being stared at. Crimson eyes flicked up, and met the guarded but startled violet ones.

* * *

_A Bit Later..._

"Damn Rat, so you're the reason Shigure's complaining about all the painkillers disappearing?"

The jab was only half-hearted, as Kyo was keeping his gaze steadily focused away from Yuki and letting his hands guide themselves into bandaging Yuki's stitches back up. Kyo had seen Yuki's self-bandaging with one arm and his teeth, and had called it a piss-poor job, roughly taking his cousin's unhurt arm and dragging him right back into the bathroom to redo it himself.

Disinterestedly, blankly, Yuki nodded. "I thought it would be obvious, stupid Cat." Also half-hearted.

Something had changed between them that day, or night rather, when the Rat gave chase to the Cat, and willingly threw itself into the danger of ferality, suffering wounds yet helping bring the other out of the state of fear and panic. While they'd grown up believing to hate each other, the instincts of the two had finally broken out, and some sort of mutual understanding, the first stirring of _friendship_, swirled about them.

It was kind of awkward, knowledge against instinct.

"There." Kyo finished his job with a muted sigh and stood up fast enough any normal person would have self-inflicted vertigo and would sit back down. To Kyo's credit, he had a dizzy spell, but shook it off. He looked around for a moment, and was just about to bolt for the door when soft words spoke unbidden from Yuki's lips-

"Thank you, Kyo."

-and had the Cat reeling for a moment. Yuki also looked a bit surprised, but he added a twitch of the lips to it, showing he meant it. A flustered dash of red painted across Kyo's face and he shoved his hands as deep into his pockets as he could. He stared at the bandage work and Yuki's slightly-smiling face, and felt his face flame hotter. Cat instincts to lick the wounds - either of himself or an ally - need to tone the fuck down before it got out of control.

_Since when is he an ally?_

Kyo grunted, conflicted for a moment, before heading to the door. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, wrenching the door open and almost breaking it. "You're welcome." And then with a glance over his shoulder, he glared at Yuki. "And don't take so much of those damn painkillers you end up dying or something. That's the last thing we need."

Walking away, muttering "Damn Rat" under his breath.

_He's always been an ally_.

Yuki began to roll his sleeve back down, and drained the rest of the water down into his throat, before putting it to the side, and replacing the small mostly-empty bottle of pills into the medicine cabinet, before following Kyo to the smells of a good lunch tantalizing his nose and tongue. Lunch was quiet, which set the mood off a bit, Tohru continually glancing between Yuki and Kyo as they kept to themselves. But a few small smiles sent her way from Yuki slowly relaxed her.

The one time Kyo caught Yuki's gaze, the silent message was there.

_Stupid Cat. Thanks for caring._

Both of them missed Shigure's oddly penetrating stare and half-quirked lips, as they went back to their food.


	3. Mvt One, Scn 4

**AN:** This story isn't conventional in the least. So many things have been done for Y/K (I've read a lot recently, and I'm trying to be so unique!), and this is hopefully going to be long enough and full of enough good plot and suspense and plot twists you guys won't get bored. Of course, some plot might take just a bit to get to, because I need certain things to happen in general before it gets moving.

Also, to mention, the current time of the fic is summer. I don't have the anime on hand, so I'm just calling liberties if it's not summer at the end of the anime. -sweatdrop-

James Birdsong- Thank you for the compliment to the fic! I am doing my best to keep it excellent!

If you review, be brutal! -WF

* * *

_**Pure- Movement O**__**ne: "Knowledge Against Instinct"  
Scenes Four  
**_

* * *

_I don't want to see._

Kyo didn't like what he saw, and hated gazing at the bandages on Yuki's arm every day, though Yuki did try to make it a point to cover up the bandages with a long-sleeved shirt. Of course, this often sparked worry in Tohru, because it was summer, and Yuki shouldn't wear long-sleeves in summer. No one in their right minds should. It was just too damn hot for long sleeves.

As much as Kyo didn't want to see the bandages, the point was he had already seen what lay beneath them. There was no point in hiding what the perpetrator himself knew was there. Maybe Yuki was being polite, but sometimes his politeness just _annoyed_ Kyo.

The fifth day in a row, a week or so after the transformation had occurred, and just a few days after Kyo's bandaging of those stitches, did Yuki walk downstairs mid-morning in long sleeves, Kyo twitched. Tohru had learned not to say anything, opening her mouth, but was cut off with a princely smile from the Rat, which only grated on Kyo's worn and frayed nerves anyway. He tried to keep quiet, only grunting as he dug his hand into his knee and put his chin in hand and elbow on the small table in front of him. He sensed more than saw Yuki cast him a look as the Rat took his place. With the two of them at the table, yet Shigure not in sight, Tohru spoke about going to find him and then starting a lunch for everyone, and stood, patting away.

As soon as the petite girl was out of the room, did Kyo actually drag his eyes up to Yuki. Yuki looked only minorly uncomfortable in the long-sleeved shirt, Kyo's keen eyes took in the sight of the smallest beads of perspiration beginning to glow on his skin, and he huffed again. Louder. Amethyst eyes snapped open and turned to Kyo in a small glare, his soft voice firmly asking, "What?"

As much as Kyo didn't want to see the bandages, he hated it more that Yuki was so damn uncomfortable, and Tohru so damn worried. Not that he would admit to either accusation.

"It's not winter, you damn Rat. Wear something lighter." Kyo went back to studying the table in front of him.

Yuki's brows knit for a moment, and the lie came fluidly to his lips. "I'm fine as I am."

Kyo rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You're about ready to break into a sweat over there. I wouldn't be surprised if you fainted or something!"

"I said I'm fine." Yuki's voice grated with emphasis on each word.

"Then you'd be even more fine if you wore something with short-sleeves!" Kyo was making no effort to keep his voice down.

As usual, however, Yuki knew exactly how to cut Kyo down to the nub on words alone. Leaning forward and bracing his chin in his own hand, he tilted his head. "Why do you even care, you stupid Cat?"

Kyo was on his feet in seconds, the incredible urge to flip the table into Yuki's face almost winning him over. "I don't!" he yelled, and slammed open the sliding door to the outside, stalking out just as Tohru came running in to see all the racket. Her shoulders gave an almost imperceptible slump of relief when she saw the aftereffects of an argument between Yuki and Kyo. Their silences of the past few days had been worrying her, worrying her a lot, even though Shigure continued to assure her everything between them was okay and would be okay.

"U-Um, Yuki?" Tohru asked after regaining herself and realized she stood there looking a little distant. At Yuki disinterested hum, eyes watching the open door as if assuming Kyo would reappear at his silent command, Tohru continued. "D-Do you think Kyo will be okay?"

Yuki rotated his head in his palm to look at her, pointedly ignoring Shigure's whining voice as the author entered to close the door - saying something about letting all the hot air in was unhealthy - and asked Tohru, "Why do you ask?"

Tohru tapped her wooden spoon in her hand. "Isn't it supposed to rain again later...?"

* * *

**End AN:** Originally there were two scenes to this chapter, but then that would be splitting the chapters about the rainstorm into two, and at a very awkward time. That's why this chapter's a bit short, and cut off where it is. The next chapter is all in the rain, and covers for this chapter's shortness. Promiskies. ;) -WF

[Obligatory Disclaimer I've avoided stating: **I don't own Fruits Basket.** Even my copies of the manga are hand-me-downs from the nearby Goodwill-esque store; only one of them is brand new. ; A ; I am a poor college student, I only dream of being this big one day.]


	4. Mvt One, Scn 5 thru 10

**AN:** This is probably the last update at least for a while. This week is turning out to be pretty busy, and while I haven't filled out the rest of my schedule for what class assignments are due when, everything is shaping up to be pretty busy for a little while. 8/ I'll have time to respond to reviews I get - if any haha - and when not doing homework/being in class/getting fresh air, I'll be outlining Pure, and figuring out a chapter count. :) So bear with me, please. And now, to tide you over for a while as I do disappear, a new chapter of Pure, with some Rat/Cat in it. Enjoy! -WF

* * *

_**Pure - Movement One: "Knowledge Against Instinct"  
Scenes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10  
**_

* * *

_Tit... tat... tit... tat._

The rain started off slow, a drop on the sidewalk here, there. Kyo noticed it fast enough to take shelter in the closest nearby building, a small corner market, and thought he could wait it out. He didn't leave with a jacket on, only barely returning to get shoes as walking in a city without shoes on was beyond strange, so getting caught out in the rain even if it starts out small probably would be a bad idea, constituting Kyo getting sick. He hadn't been affected by the rain all that much in his True form, but that wasn't exactly a get out of jail free card. Lips curled in disgust at himself for even remotely thinking about it.

Yuki had put him in a sour mood, the rain wasn't helping, and thinking of _that_ form in any way was just downright depressing.

By the time Kyo had stalked the store twice, debating on whether or not to get a small pre-packaged case of sushi and some milk, because obviously he wouldn't be home in time for dinner, the rain outside had turned into a deluge, strong and hard, the thunder rattling the window of the small store as Kyo walked by them. Needless to say, he stopped walking by them gritting his teeth.

Ten minutes later, and he'd spent pocket money on the sushi and milk, and sat in a back corner of the store, faced away from the storm, even though he could hear it, and popped open the sushi container. With a delicate sniff, he could already tell this was made in the morning, and it was later afternoon by now... the sushi wasn't a day old, but even a few hours old wasn't as soon as fresh. Kyo drummed his fingers loudly on the small table beside him, debating if it was worth it. But he'd spent his pocket change on it, he wouldn't be traveling out in the rain for at least a few more hours, and his stomach was steadily increasing its sound for food.

"Better not bite me in the ass later on," he muttered, and began to eat, carefully blocking out the sounds of the rain and storm outside.

* * *

"He's been gone all day," Tohru mused mournfully as she gazed outside at the deluge of rain steadily pouring from the sky. With a crack and flash of light, she squeaked and stumbled away from the lightning display, and turned away, hand on her heart to calm the beating organ. Of course, as worst comes to worst, Tohru's anxiety led to her thinking one truly terrible thing. Worriedly, she turned worried blue-gray eyes to a bored Yuki at the table.

"Y-You don't think he's stuck out there, do you, Yuki?" Her voice rose and squeaked again at the end of her words, causing the Rat to give her a cursory glance. He smiled easily around the hand which braced his chin and the fingers that lightly spiderwebbed his face.

"He may be a Stupid Cat," he started, and looked away at the rain outside, "but give him credit. He hates water, I'm sure he took shelter, Miss Honda."

Sadly, Tohru didn't look convinced. She wrung her hands and looked back toward the outside of the house, before she turned and trotted off in the direction of her room. Yuki watched her go only for a moment, sliding one hand down a bare arm - after Kyo's outburst, he had wordlessly had changed his top. Not that it would matter, because as predicted, Tohru trotted back into the room in heavier clothes and a coat, her hair hidden behind a hood, as she strode over to the door, where her hand outstretched for an umbrella.

"Miss Honda, what are you doing?" Yuki spoke up, startling the poor girl out of her wits. Yuki's brows knit together briefly in her reaction; did she honestly think she could "sneak" out while Yuki was there in plain sight, watching her? Her babble of apologies and a stream of her explanation came from panicked lips. Yuki, after enough practice and having been around the girl a lot over time, knew what she was stuttering about and dissected the phrase easily:

_I'm so sorry, Yuki! But Kyo, he's been out there all day, and I don't know if he's eaten anything, and he doesn't have a jacket, and if he's out in the rain he could change into the Cat - or or or worse and he could get sick! What if he gets sick and collapses somewhere and THEN turns into the Cat when someone tries to check on him - or what if - EEEEEK!_

The last scream came from when a big clap of thunder rattled the house and Tohru jumped, stumbled back, and fell into a heap at the feet of a yawning Shigure. There was a bit of a pause, as Shigure looked over the scene, and then dashed the back of his hand against his forehead. "Yuki, is this what I think it looks like?" he cried in his falsetto, over-exaggerated voice. Yuki fought the urge to roll his eyes, as Tohru began to pick herself up from the ground, her cheeks red. "You're going to send our poor Tohru out in the rain-"

"No."

Shigure paused, a little startled, and even Tohru looked over at Yuki, a little surprised.

"I'll go find him. Tohru, stay in here, stay warm, and don't let Shigure touch you." Yuki said it in a deadpan, and stood, turning away from them to go upstairs to get back into his long-sleeved shirt as well as a coat, and maybe a scarf... no, the scarf would be overkill, it wasn't so cold as to aggravate his asthma.

Merely ten minutes later, he bid Tohru a small farewell, ignoring the confused look in her eyes about why Yuki was volunteering to get Kyo - and in this weather - at all. He also pointedly ignored Shigure's comments that the world had to have been ending, for Yuki was going to get Kyo, and sacrifice his good health for his rival, and yadda yadda.

It wasn't that big a deal, Yuki decided as he opened the umbrella above him and headed out along the pathway toward town.

It wasn't the first time the Rat chased the Cat. In the rain, no less.

* * *

The sushi had been a bad idea.

The store had closed soon enough for its normal hours around six, dinnertime, and apologetically forced Kyo out into the rain, where he almost immediately burst into shiver and looked around for any other means to shield himself with. When he came up empty handed, he sighed, and decided the best course of action would be to go back home. Or rather, to make it home without any silly mishaps.

About halfway there, his stomach churned a little violently, and in surprise, Kyo stumbled to the side, impacting a tree with a solid _whump!_ and causing the birds there that were nesting to fly off in a cacophony of sound. Kyo's arms, which had been gripping solidly to themselves as he'd hunched in the weather and ran, now reached down to gingerly cup his tummy, as it gave another violent twist.

Saliva gathered beneath his tongue as convulsively, Kyo swallowed to try and keep it at bay.

When he deemed himself able to move on, he did so, pushing away from the tree and gingerly returning to travel on foot back toward Shigure's house. Sadly, he only barely made it to the edge of the dirt road that led to Shigure's house before his stomach revolted again, with enough surprising force that Kyo couldn't keep it down. He hit the muddy ground beneath him with a surprised grunt, and immediately following that grunt came the coughing sounds. Even in human form, Kyo would lose his stomach just like a cat. And what a painful way to lose it...

_Cough_

_Cough  
_

_Cough  
_

Each of them getting worse, as he tried to swallow between them, but doing so choked him and made the next few coughs shake and rattle him harder.

_Cough_

_Cough  
_

_Cough_

* * *

The smell hit his sensitive nose first, and he wrinkled his nose in disgusted, now regretting that he didn't take a scarf with him.

Then came the sound of obviously painful coughs, and then the unmistakable sound of retching. The splat of stomach contents hitting the ground, heard even over the pounding of the rain.

_- or worse and he could get sick! -_

Suppose Tohru had it right on the money, as Yuki dashed a little further to the epicenter of the noise, seeing Kyo bent over near the edge of the road. Drenched, shuddering, a pile of stomach acid and... what looked like undigested sushi in front of him. He huffed heavily, crimson eyes half-lidded as he fought to catch his breath. Yuki watched, stunned, for what seemed to be an unbearably long amount of time, before he knelt into the mud and dirt beside the weakened Cat, and held the umbrella over him.

Kyo may have been drenched, but this would held his strained body recover. At least a little. Right?

* * *

By now, his vision had blurred and the smell of his own stomach was both disgusting but intriguing to his own nose. His stomach had finished its terror on his body, leaving the Cat to puff and huff his pained lungs and sore, wet body back into enough shape to get him back up and onto his feet.

It took quite a while before he actually recognized that something - no, some_one_ - was blocking the rain from falling on him.

Dazed red eyes looked up, and took in the fuzzy image of who it was. At first assumption, he thought it would be Tohru out here looking for him, though he was surprised when he saw the long-sleeved figure of Yuki beside him, amethyst eyes lit in... concern? Almost violently, Kyo tore himself away from that other male, scrambling away from Yuki, and his released stomach contents. He blinked, and Yuki was carefully blank again, but inching on the balls of his feet to keep the umbrella over the drenched Kyo.

"Stupid Cat," he mumbled, fidgeting around his pocket for something; soon enough he produced a handkerchief, and reached out to the frozen Cat, gently wiping Kyo's lips to rid them of the bile splatter and a bit of the aftertaste of what he'd just gone through. "Why didn't you come home sooner?"

* * *

The Rat didn't deny, and wouldn't deny, that he had concern for Kyo, the Cat. Why he let it show on his face, while earlier Kyo had masked it beneath his normal temper and angry mutterings, he didn't know. It startled Kyo, but at least the orange-haired one realized Yuki wasn't there to hurt him or anything. Just gently wiping away the bile and acid splashback.

As a mother to her child. In a sense.

One friend to another.

Yuki saw the way Kyo's eyes half-lidded, as he began to pull his hand away. He should have seen it as a sign, instead of moving to put away the handkerchief in his pocket to wash later. Yet imagine his surprise when he turned back, and found an orange cat, soaked and trembling, with its tail between its legs and the residual orange smoke dissolved in the rain around him. Moreso how surprised he was when the wet ball of fur climbed into Yuki's lap, where instinctively he wrapped an arm around it to hold it secure, and the long orange tail unwound to curl around his sleeved arm.

"Damn Rat, I told you... not to wear long-sleeves."

Then with a close of his eyes, the Cat fell asleep against his once-terrible enemy... now turned-friend. Not wanting to disturb him, Yuki shifted toward the tree to the side of the road, his face blank just in case this was a test, before he braced the umbrella into the crook of his arm in a way that shielded them from blowing rain, and most passerby.

In spite of the storm that raged, the flickers of lightning and distant rumbles of thunder signaling its fast movement, Yuki was content there on the wet ground with this trembling body in his arms, cradling it close to his warmth. This was his enemy, he'd been raised to believe it... but believe it, he did not anymore. Not after seeing the torment of the True Form, and seeing the torment he faced in general.

Yuki's hand swept across the wet fur, and when the Cat began to purr in his slumber...

The Rat did smile.


End file.
